1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus including a plurality of communication interfaces, a control method thereof, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many communication apparatuses include a function (power-saving function) of setting a power-saving state for reducing power consumption. For example, there are provided Low-Power Idle (LPI) standardized by IEEE802.3az as a wired local area network (LAN) standard, and PowerSave standardized by IEEE802.11 series as a wireless LAN standard. Such communication apparatuses can continue a state connecting to a network even in the power-saving state.
Further, when the communication apparatus includes a plurality of communication interfaces, the larger number of communication interfaces are connected, the more amount of power a communication unit consumes. Thus, a control method is discussed for operating only one of the plurality of communication interfaces.
For example, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-280778 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 7,411,607), it is confirmed whether each of the plurality of communication interfaces is connected with its counter apparatus, and then only one of the communication interfaces whose connection has been confirmed is operated. Further, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-194220, one of the plurality of communication interfaces that consumes least power for data communication is selected and operated.
However, when the communication apparatus is set to be in the power-saving state and when one communication interface is selectively operated, if the counter apparatus of the selected communication interface does not comply with the power-saving function, the communication interface cannot be set to be in the power-saving state. As a result, a power-saving effect of the communication apparatus is reduced.